The Toltec Civilization was one of three great empires of the Basin of Mexico, after the fall of Teotihuacan and before the rise of the Aztecs. The capital was at Tula, and during the Toltec heyday (about AD 900-1200), Tula controlled most of central Mexico, the Yucatan peninsula, the Gulf coast, and perhaps even Chiapas and the Pacific coast as well. Trade connections were established as far away as what is now the Mexican states of Zacatecas, Veracruz, and Puebla; the US states of New Mexico and Arizona; Costa Rica and Guatemala. The power of the Tula dynasties rang through all of Mesoamerica into the Aztec empire.
The archaeological ruins of Tula are located in the Mexican state of Hildalgo about 50 kilometers northwest of Mexico City. Tula is considered the likely candidate for Tollan, the legendary capital of the Toltec Empire, founded about AD 750, as the Teotihuacan empire was crumbling. During the height of Tula's power, between AD 900 and 1100, it included an area of some five square miles, with an occupation perhaps as high as 60,000. Tula's precincts included a large diversity of types of environments, from a reedy marsh to adjacent hills and slopes; within this varied landscape are hundreds of mounds and terraces, representing residential structures in a planned city scape, with alleys, passageways and paved streets.
Archaeologists and explorers associated with Tula include Desire Charnay, Dan Healan, Richard Diehl, and Eduardo Matos Moctezuma.
The archaeological ruins of Tula are located in the Mexican state of Hildalgo about 50 kilometers northwest of Mexico City. Tula is considered the likely candidate for Tollan, the legendary capital of the Toltec Empire, founded about AD 750, as the Teotihuacan empire was crumbling. During the height of Tula's power, between AD 900 and 1100, it included an area of some five square miles, with an occupation perhaps as high as 60,000. Tula's precincts included a large diversity of types of environments, from a reedy marsh to adjacent hills and slopes; within this varied landscape are hundreds of mounds and terraces, representing residential structures in a planned city scape, with alleys, passageways and paved streets.
Archaeologists and explorers associated with Tula include Desire Charnay, Dan Healan, Richard Diehl, and Eduardo Matos Moctezuma.
Comments
The Toltec certainly existed, but recent research has failed to find evidence of a far-reaching empire.
Current thinking among noted Mesoamerican archaeologists points to an empire myth created and embellished by the Mexica (the Aztecs) to legitimize their claim to rule (they traced their heritage to the Toltecs).
Take a look at a more detailed description here.